Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from
2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Argentina.htm
Argentina is a
source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced
labor. Many victims are trafficked within the country, from rural areas to
urban centers, for forced prostitution. Some Argentine women and girls are
trafficked to neighboring countries, Mexico, and Western Europe for
commercial sexual exploitation. Foreign women and children, primarily from
Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, are trafficked to
Argentina for the same purpose. A significant number of Bolivians,
Paraguayans, and Peruvians are trafficked into the country for forced labor
in sweatshops and agriculture. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check out a later country report here
or the full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking for
material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of particular
interest to you. Would you like to
write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include possible precursors of trafficking such as poverty. There is a lot to the subject
of Trafficking. Scan other countries as
well. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Clamping Down on
Human Trafficking Marcela Valente,
IPS-Inter Press Service, www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35414 [accessed 19 January
2011] www.ipsnews.net/2006/11/argentina-clamping-down-on-human-trafficking/ [accessed 4
September 2016] Susana Trimarco, whose daughter was kidnapped in 2002, told IPS
that the proposal for a specific policy is an encouragement to her in her
search for her daughter. Trimarco, who attended the seminar, was able to prove
that her daughter Marita Verón, 24, fell into the
hands of a sexual exploitation ring. After she was kidnapped, her mother
obtained testimonies from other teenagers and young people, also victims of
trafficking, who had seen her in different places of captivity in several
provinces in the country. Although she
has not been able to find her daughter, the investigative work she and other
activists have carried out has led to the rescue of 94 people. Global March Worst
Forms of Child Labour Report 2005 The US Dept. of Labor's
2003 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour beta.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/argentina.html [accessed 16 August
2012] CHILD SLAVERY - . In a recent raid by the police, Bolivian boys were discovered working as slaves in an Argentine factory; These boys were forced to work 19-hour shifts, they are prohibited from leaving, and they are often beaten to keep up the pace. Authorities are still investigating how these undocumented youths slipped past the border. The minors continued to work for almost two years, still receiving no pay, and falling into further debt imposed by their 'owners.' All too often those who risk coming to the city center find themselves working in factory jobs in conditions of contemporary slavery. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2023 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs,
Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/argentina
[accessed 19
December 2024] Significant Advancement- In 2023, Argentina
made significant advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child
labor. The province of Misiones approved a bill to create a certification
program for agricultural producers to prevent child labor and increase
traceability. In addition, the Government of Argentina; the International
Labor Organization; and representatives from unions, employers, and civil
society developed and started implementation of the 2023–2025 National
Roadmap to achieve the 8.7 Alliance goals toward the eradication of child
labor. Furthermore, in partnership with local unions, the province of Chubut
launched a mobile application and distributed tablets to inspectors to better
detect and record child labor incidences. The government also approved the Fourth
National Plan for Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor and the
Protection of Adolescent Labor, which includes efforts to strengthen the
labor inspectorate. Finally, the Good Harvest Program, providing childcare
services to rural and migrant families, was expanded into three additional
provinces. Despite these efforts, Argentina’s legal minimum age for work of
16 years is lower than the compulsory education age of 18 years, which may
encourage children to leave school before the completion of compulsory
education. Lastly, Argentina lacks social programs that address child labor
in street work and begging. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Argentina U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/argentina/
[accessed 10 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Employers subjected a significant number of Bolivians, Paraguayans, and Peruvians, as well as Argentines from poorer northern provinces, to forced labor in the garment sector, agriculture, street vending, charcoal and brick production, construction, domestic work, and small businesses (including restaurants and supermarkets). Traffickers exploited Chinese citizens working in supermarkets to debt bondage. Traffickers compelled trafficking victims to transport drugs through the country’s borders. Men, women, and children were victims of forced labor, although victims’ typical gender and age varied by employment sector (see section 7.c.). PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Children were engaged in the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, including forced labor in domestic servitude, agriculture, and production of garments, and illicit activities such as the transport and sale of drugs. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/argentina/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 19 March
2020] G3. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY PERSONAL SOCIAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING CHOICE OF MARRIAGE PARTNER AND SIZE
OF FAMILY, PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND CONTROL OVER APPEARANCE? Violence against
women remains a serious problem. Activists continue to hold highly visible
protests and events aimed at drawing attention to the issue. According to
official data, less than 5 percent of murder cases against women from 2018
ended in convictions. G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Some industries
like garment and brick production profit from the forced labor of men, women,
and children from Argentina as well as from neighboring countries; forced
labor is also present in the agriculture sector and among domestic workers
and street vendors. Exploitation is made easier by the prevalence of informal
work: more than a third of Argentines work in the informal sector, without
proper benefits or formal legal protections. Men, women, and
children are subject to sex trafficking. The government maintained the use of
a hotline to facilitate investigations and has worked to identify more
victims, deliver antitrafficking trainings, and
prosecute officials involved in trafficking, according to the US State
Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report. 2017 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child Labor,
Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs,
US Dept of Labor, 2018 www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf [accessed 15 April
2019] www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 22 April
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 106] Although the extent
of the problem is unknown, reports indicate that girls from Argentina’s
Northern provinces are victims of human trafficking for commercial sexual
exploitation. (51; 52) Bolivian children and children of Bolivian immigrants
in Argentina engage in child labor in agriculture, production of bricks, and
domestic service, and in forced child labor in the production of garments.
(16; 44; 53; 37) Reports also indicate that Paraguayan children are victims
of trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation in
Argentina. (54; 51) In 2017, adults
used girls as young as 13 years old to distribute drugs in nightclubs. (47)
In the Northern and Western provinces, indigenous children were used to move
drugs across the border. (55; 56; 57). Argentina Rescues
700 from Human Traffickers in 7 Months Victoria Rossi, In
Sight, 21 August 2012 www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/argentina-rescues-human-traffickers [accessed 11 June
2013] www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/argentina-rescues-human-traffickers/ [accessed 13 August
2020 Most of the
trafficking victims, principally women and children, had been sexually
exploited and forced into labor, the report by the Office for Rescue and Care
of Victims of Trafficking stated. Of the 712 people recovered during more
than 300 raids across the country, 85 were below the age of 18. Nearly 370
hailed from outside Argentina. Many of the victims
were financially desperate and had been lured by false advertisements for
nanny or modeling positions, said Zaida Gatti, the coordinator of rescue efforts, reported El
Universal newspaper. Others had been kidnapped, Gatti
said. ARGENTINA:
Recruiting Celebs Against Trafficking in Women Marcela Valente,
IPS-Inter Press Service, www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36936 [accessed 19 January
2011] www.ipsnews.net/2007/03/argentina-recruiting-celebs-against-trafficking-in-women/ [accessed 4
September 2016] One case that
attracted public notice in Argentina is that of Marita Verón,
23, who was kidnapped in the northwestern province of Tucumán in 2002. Her
mother, Susana Trimarco, has been looking for her
ever since, and although she has not found Marita yet, her search has shed
light on the nature of the trade, and has secured the release of many other
young women. Trimarco, honoured this month as a "Woman of Courage" by
the U.S. State Department, infiltrated provincial brothels to find
information which led to the rescue of nearly 100 young women, the
prosecution of 24 members of recruiting networks, and the removal from office
of a judge who was accused of being an accomplice. However, she said there was a lack of
political will to combat the organisations that
dupe women with fancy job offers. Trimarco said the
information she has received from the families of other victims and from the
police indicates that there are about 500 missing young women in Argentina
who may have been trapped by human traffickers. One of them is her daughter
Marita, who according to several testimonies collected by Trimarco
is still alive. Open letter from
Amnesty International to the Governor of Santa Fe Province, Sr. Jorge Obeid Guadalupe Marengo,
Amnesty International, February 6, 2004 -- Index Number: AMR 13/003/2004 www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR13/003/2004 [accessed 19 January
2011] www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/92000/amr130032004en.pdf [accessed 26 May
2017] Sandra Cabrera had
complained publicly, and to the provincial authorities, about the continuous
harassment of female sex workers and extortion on the part of members of the
provincial police force, providing dates and the names of those responsible.
As you are no doubt aware, in December 2003 Sandra Cabrera was subjected to a
beating in her home by unidentified individuals, while the police protection
she had finally been granted was outside her front door. Our information is
that on Friday, 23 January 2004, Sandra Cabrera had accompanied one of her
friends, Stella Maris Longoni, and confirmed the
latest complaint before the Rosario Prosecutor’s Office against members of
the Departamento de Moralidad(vice
squad ) for extortion and harassment. ILO to mark World
Day Against Child Labour International Labour Organization (ILO) News, www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/press-and-media-centre/news/WCMS_005279/lang--en/index.htm [accessed 28 August
2012] FROM LATIN AMERICA - The Triple
Border region - where Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, April 10, 2002 sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/0/3567bf5c062c819e41256c5d0043aa0b?OpenDocument [accessed 19 January
2011] [61] In light of articles
32 to 36 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Undertake a study on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and
trafficking of children in order to assess its scope and causes and develop
effective monitoring and other preventive measures; The Protection Project - Argentina The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/argentina.doc [accessed 2009] www.protectionproject.org/country-reports/ [accessed 22
February 2016] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Thousands of
women have been trafficked from the Dominican Republic to Argentina for
forced prostitution. A recent study
revealed that the majority of Dominican female migrants in Argentina were 20
to 39 years of age and almost 90 percent had children, most of whom were left in the Dominican Republic in the care of
others. Most of the women paid US$2,000 for the trip to Argentina, where they
were promised work as domestic helpers for US$500 to US$800 per month. More
than 50 percent had been forced into prostitution. Women and girls are
trafficked into Argentina from Paraguay expecting to work as domestic
employees but are then forced into prostitution. Bolivian women and children
are trafficked to Argentina for domestic servitude as well as
prostitution. In July 2000, Bolivian
nationals trafficked 24 Bolivian girls to Argentina
for purposes of prostitution. The brothel owner’s mother recruited children
from outdoor markets in the rural areas of Bolivia, promising the children
and their parents that the children could work as criaditas,
or little maids, in Argentina. The children traveled by plane and were
accompanied by the brothel owner’s husband. When the case was brought to
light, 16 of the girls were repatriated. The remaining girls, legally adults
at the time of the investigation, remained in Argentina. The recruiter, the
brothel owner’s husband, the owner of the travel agency where the tickets and
visas were obtained, and the brothel owner were charged with forcing minors
into prostitution. Human Rights Overview Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org/americas/argentina [accessed 19 January
2011] ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/argentina/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 22 April 2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Some sectors of the
charcoal and brick-producing industries profit from the forced labor of men,
women, and children from Argentina as well as from neighboring countries;
forced labor is also present in the agriculture sector and among domestic
workers and street vendors. Men, women, and children are subject to sex
trafficking. The government has taken steps to better fund programs to assist
victims of human trafficking and draw public awareness to the problem,
according to the U.S. State Department’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report. 2017 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 20 April 2018 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/wha/277303.htm
[accessed 12 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/argentina/ [accessed 24 June 2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Forced labor
occurred. The Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security carried out
300,000 inspections during the 2016-17 term and
found various irregularities and potential cases of forced labor, four of
which became formal judicial complaints. Efforts to hold perpetrators
accountable continued during the year, including the sentencing in September
of a rural employer to three and a half years of prison for labor trafficking
involving a farmhand, his wife, and their four children. Most of the victims
were discovered on agricultural farms and in commercial and service
activities. Employers subjected a significant number of Bolivians,
Paraguayans, and Peruvians, as well as Argentines from poorer northern
provinces, to forced labor in the garment sector, agriculture, construction,
domestic work, and small businesses (including restaurants and supermarkets).
There were reports that Chinese citizens were victims of forced labor in
supermarkets. Men, women, and children were victims of forced labor, although
victims’ typical gender and age varied by employment sector. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61713.htm [accessed 4 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– While there were no official reports on the activities of traffickers, the
media reported that traffickers often presented themselves as employment
agencies or even as individual recruiters. Traffickers confiscated travel
documents to prevent victims from appealing to authorities for protection.
Victims, particularly women and girls in prostitution, may be denied contact
with the outside world. Victims often were threatened or beaten. SECTION
6 WORKER RIGHTS
– [c] While the law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by
children, there were reports that such practices occurred. An investigation into an apparent case of
forced labor involving potentially hundreds of Bolivian citizens working in
clothing sweatshops in Flores Sur, a neighborhood in the city of The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/argentina.htm [accessed 19 January
2011] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL Worst Forms of Child Labor INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children are trafficked to Argentina from Bolivia,
Brazil, and Paraguay for sexual exploitation and labor. Argentine
children are trafficked from rural to urban areas of the country and there is
some trafficking of children abroad, mainly into prostitution in All
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Torture by Authorities in [Argentina] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Argentina] [other countries]NEW è POVERTY in [Argentina] [other countries]